The Diplodocus

Didn’t Get to Bully the New Kids September 13, 2010

This morning I had the pleasure of deviating from the usual routine and heading to FSI to give a briefing. Though I wasn’t afforded a chance to sleep in, I was able to go a little slower and miss the multitude of morning meetings that occupy me from, oh, OOB* to 11 AM. I was also excited to see the “new” FSI. The Schultz Center has had an entire new wing added since 2008, the last time I was out there, presumably to accommodate Diplomacy 3.0. (Unfortunately, though the dining area has grown, the food service area is about mid-90s hiring freeze size.)

More exciting than seeing the new FSI was the chance to run into the latest batch of FSOs, the 156th A-100. I’m still a sucker for the infectious energy of the new and un-jaded, and look back on A-100 in the same way I look back on the first months of my freshman year of college, when everything was shiny and new and full of potential. It’s a positive outlook that I lost somewhere along the way. Seeing it in others occasionally brings it the feeling back, albeit only for fleeting moments.

Sadly: my hopes were dashed. I’m as bitter and jaded as I ever was, and didn’t receive any contact enthusiasm. Turns out newly-minted JOs now start their indoctrination at Main State, and don’t crowd the FSI shuttle until day two. I think I learned this somewhere along the way, but promptly forgot.

So to the 156th, welcome, and sorry I didn’t get to meet you. Especially all you new FSO bloggers! There are so many of us here that we should try to do a DC-based FS blogger meetup.